Month: September 2016

So this week I am going to do my best to not write a Star Wars inspired email…although there is so much you can learn from that franchise.

I will not write one this week …about that.

Because I’m changing it up a bit and apparently my emails have convinced some of you that you need to go see the prequels.

So before I get a bunch of emails about how bad the prequels were let me take little break… for this week.

Now as you should know I’m a big reader and this week I am reading something a little different from my normal sci-fi/fantasy.

I’m reading a book by John Grisham.

Maybe you know the name but this is my time reading any of his books.

This is a newish one called Rogue Lawyer and I’m about half way through it and let me tell you soo many little take aways from this fiction read.

Now I’m not going to spoil the story completely because maybe one of you is reading it or will be reading it so I’ll talk a little about one of the adventures that our rogue lawyer goes on.

So this lawyer is really bad ass and lives a crazy life and work life. (Remember I am not trying to spoil this for you.)

He takes on these almost impossible cases and does his best for his clients even if it means him doing something crazy or playing dirty.

Well in one such case his defendant is innocent of the crime of rape and murder but the guy is a straight weirdo.

Either way the guy didn’t do the crime but the whole town thinks he did and the police want him even though they didn’t really investigate anything.

They crazy lawyer has to go through the whole case trying to prove the client didn’t do it.
So not to go into too many details he did a lot….and this s just the first of many cases the book shows us about this crazy dedicated lawyer.

Think about this for a sec…..how many other folks do you see online that claim and defend to the death that their product is the best and the only way to do something?
How many gurus got folks hypnotized in to thinking they are they truth and the light of business and marketing online?

Now here you come…knowing another way…may be even a better way and now you out there fighting tooth and nail to convince those entranced folks that you can help them better….

Hard work isn’t it?

I know its frustrating as all hell and that is why I don’t bother to go after the entranced crowd.

It’s fun reading about lawyers like the one in the book but I don’t want potentials leads like the folks in that town…hypnotized by the police and how they painted this weird guy to be a rapist and child killer.

No…

I rather go after people that are more open and not falling in the hype of the guru train.
Maybe you should consider going my way too.

Just a thought.

Oh by the way folks I’m writing a book.

Yes a book called The STDs of Story and I decided to document my process in my little Facebook group…

If you would like to join and get some good business advice and tips on writing your own authority book https://www.facebook.com/groups/344821745849682/.

This message here has almost nothing to do with your business per say but has everything to so with marketing and fixing your screws ups before a big launch in which all other products you are planning on creating rest.

Rogue One—-A Star Wars Story hitting theaters in December.

Has the world and future of all other Star Wars spin off movies on its shoulders.

I understand that some of you may not be into Sci-fi or Star Wars like me but there is a live action marketing plan going on right before you with Lucasfilms with this franchise and I would be a cruel mistress not to bring it to your attention.

First off, I am going into this assuming that you all have watched or at least are familiar with Stars Wars in some shape or form.

You don’t have to be a fan like me who has a great interest in the story and expanded universe that it has created but you should be a student of how Lucasfilms and Disney( They own this.) handles this iconic franchise.

Movies cost a lot of money to make and a lot of money to market before and after the release plus the payments don’t stop there.

You see….Actors in these films get paid royalties.

Yes….that’s one of the main reasons you see some actors always working in films even if they aren’t big stars they get those royalty checks for years….not forever but for years and the better the movie does the bigger the check and longer it will last.

But back to Rogue One which will be in theaters in December.

Last year in December…..

Star Wars: The Force Awakens entered Theaters and did its thang.

It was the official we’re back of The Star Wars Franchise hitting the big screen in a big way.

Marketing that movie was much easier than Rogue One and here’s way….

Rogue One is the story about how the Resistance….the folks Princess Leia was apart of and one of its leaders got the plans for the Death Star that they destroyed in the first movie in the original Trilogy.

It was announced that Rogue One would hit theater next December and most of the Star Wars Fan base was not very hopeful, or enthused by this movie announcement.

One: Over the years before Disney bought Lucasfilms there was already lost of material in the form of books and comics expanding the Star Wars universe. Most of which is now referred to as legend because Disney threw most of it out or modified it once they bought Lucasfilms

Two: We already knew who stole the plans for the Death Star and it was Luke’s childhood friend who became a pilot( hint : we met this guy briefly in Star Wars)

As you can see the story has been changed and a new character : A lady is the one who has apparently or will in the film steal the plans…

The Fan base was not very interested especially when it was announced that there would be no Jedi in the movie although there were still a few Jedi around who were in hiding besides Obi-Wan and Yoda….but that’s another story…. so Lucasfilms Disney had to go into overdrive to get the core fan base excited for this movie somehow and do it fast before Star Wars Celebration in July.

So…..they released the first trailer.

It picked things up in the forums and got folks interested….

but it still wasn’t quite enough until they announced that Vader was going to be in it.

The fans went wild.

Would we finally get to see Vader in action? The extremely mobile and destructive Vader that we were shown in the comic books that did so much damage?

They had successfully sparked the rumor mill and it has been going strong still although now after some actor slip ups and the release of magazine articles and the new trailer has sparked other theories.

I think it’s safe to say that Rogue One is looking like it might be a hit.

Now you might be thinking what lessons have can I learn from this?

My business is a one man/woman show. I don’t have millions of dollars or marketing team or a well known franchise.

I know but here’s the first thing this should teach you…

Lesson 1: Build up your fan base or in your case your audience. Your audience should be large enough to support you running your business.

Lucasfilms over the years has taken the time to continue to build up its fan base

Lesson 2: Get your audience excited about the launch of your new product/service. If they are not interested or excited about it. You’re in trouble.

Learning those two lessons and then going out there and doing what you need to do will help you create a successful business.

Interesting what you can learn by being a fan and a marketing storyteller such as I.

I got something brewing…..something to will allow me help you fast track your business growth….

More on that later but if you need me to help you figure out what your business story is.

Long ago in my mind not so far away….

See lately I been seen a lot of Yoda reference emails with the ‘Do or do not…”

It’s probably one of the most recognizable quotes in the original trilogy.

For some reason a lot of copywriters have decided that they should explain what they do or the product they are selling with that quote as a way to show off their storytelling skills.

Now I could just as easily make this a ‘Do or do not’ into a ‘Buy or buy not’ thing or twist it into something else a lot more creative but I’m going to show you a better way of using old Grand Master Yoda in story.

Just give you a few possible openings that you could use…

Now for a bit of Star Wars history….Yoda was the Grand Master of the Jedi Order before it was destroyed.

Yup the little green guy was essentially the head honcho of the order back in its existence way before he started training Luke Skywalker.

Now if you watched the prequels you know that there was something called the Jedi Council and they made the major decisions of what they Jedi did and who got trained.

And our good do and do not friend made some big boo boos while grand master which is one of the main reasons he decided to hide all of those years while Jedi were and yes years after initial Order 66 that made the army kill the Jedi…Jedi were still being hunted and killed.

Hint : Yoda did nothing but hide and not once did he try to find a Jedi or two to help hide…Stand up guy…but I know his reasons…Star Wars Fan here but….here are some little know facts and story email giveaways…..

He made up the Jedi Council of most of his former students.—Now as you can see this might lead to problems since most of the council…the folks making the decisions is made up of folks he trained personally so they are not likely to disagree with you.

He struck down any idea or notion of changing some of the Jedi rules. Yoda was not a very flexible guy. Before he became grand master years before Jedi could get married and some during the time we know of little Annie Skywalker the notion had come up again but Master Yoda struck it down.

He on more than one occasion has let a Jedi or few figure out how to free themselves when they failed missions or were captured aka he left them hanging. This resulted in other Jedi attempting to save their friends and later turning to the dark side. See Yoda figured that it was better to let some Jedi die then risk sending others in after them even when it was the council’s bad decision making that let to the situation in the first place….That why Obi-Wan looked surprised when the Jedi showed up to save them in the area in the second prequels.

Still think Master Yoda is the ……well….he’s not all bad but look 3 points could easily turn into 3 separate story based emails for just about any business to use.

Yet copywriters want to limit themselves to the easiest way out. These story experts….using the same trick in one week.

That’s what made it annoying and funny. I thought it was a joke to get 4 emails quoting Yoda.

It wasn’t and I wouldn’t like the same thing to happen to you when you start using story to engage your audience.

Because I know you think you’re special but you’re not and most of your audience is probably following your competitor and others in your niche so if everyone is writing about Yoda’s do or do not….whose gonna win the sale?

I’ll let you think on that.

But while you do remember that I will be opening the doors soon to Story Sales Email Course.

A good way to learn how to use story to make more money using email without looking like your competitors.

You can gain more knowledge on how to out story your competition while making addition and multiplication happen in your bank accounts by signing up to the mailing list and getting your Free Business Story Checklist.